Rita’s Italian Ice plans to open 10 restaurants under a new name this year and to introduce new scooped custard as well as waffles, cookies and brownies at those locations, the company said Monday.
It has also started testing the custard, with flavors like Birthday Cake Batter and Salted Caramel Crunch, and cookies at more than 40 of the chain’s more than 600 domestic units.
The Trevose, Pa.-based chain already offers Italian ice, soft serve frozen custard and frozen drinks.
The new restaurants will be called Rita’s Italian Ice & Creamery.
“Frozen custard has been at the core of our business since it was added to our menu more than 25 years ago,” chief marketing officer Phyllis Savar Levy said in a press release.
She said the rebranded stores would offer a rotating selection of 35 scooped flavors.
Among those flavors are Birthday Cake Batter and Salted Caramel Crunch.
The new restaurants also will be redesigned with a“fresh and contemporary look [that] will offer guests a fun and engaging atmosphere,” the company said.
“The new Creamery concept is an exciting step forward for Rita’s,” Levy said. “We’re focusing on what our guests know and love about us — deliciously unique products — and expanding upon it with Hand-Scooped Frozen Custard to ensure we have a ‘cool treat’ for every guest we serve. We’re looking forward to officially testing this new concept, but the initial feedback has been overwhelmingly positive and filled with thousands of huge custard-covered smiles.”
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